Nano Server - the future of Windows Server - Thomas Maurer

@ITCAMPRO #ITCAMP16Community Conference for IT Professionals
Nano Server – The Future of
Windows Server
Thomas Maurer
Cloud Architect @ itnetX
Microsoft MVP
www.thomasmaurer.ch Twitter: @ThomasMaurer

Thomas Maurer
• Cloud Architect, itnetX
– Microsoft Cloud
– MCSE Private Cloud
– MCSE Server Infrastructure
– MCSD Azure Solution Architect
– Microsoft MVP Cloud & Datacenter
• Twitter & Blog
– www.thomasmaurer.ch
– @thomasmaurer

MMS Minnesota 2014

 Challenges with Cloud Environments
 Microsoft Server Journey
 Nano Server Deployment
 Nano Server Management
 Nano Server Apps
 Q & A
Agenda

Reboots impact my business
– Why do I have to reboot because of a patch
to a component I never use?
– When a reboot is required, the systems
need to be back in service ASAP
Todays Datacenter Challenges

Server images are too big
– Large images take a long time to install and configure
– Transferring images consumes too much network bandwidth
– Storing images requires too much disk space
Infrastructure requires too many resources
– If the OS consumes fewer resources, I can increase my VM
density
– Higher VM density lowers my costs and increases my
efficiency & margins
Todays Datacenter Challenges

Security Impact

I want just the components
I need
and nothing more

Microsoft Server Journey
Windows NT to
Windows Server
2003
Windows/
WindowsNT
Server Roles/Features
Windows Server 2008
and
Windows Server 2008 R2
Server Core
Full Server
Windows Server 2012
and
Windows Server 2012 R2
Server Core
Minimal Server
Interface
GUI Shell

Microsoft Server Challenges
Azure
–Patches and reboots interrupt service delivery
–(*VERY large # of servers) * (large OS resource
consumption)
–Provisioning large host images competes for
network resources

Microsoft Server Challenges
Cloud Platform System (CPS)
Cloud-in-box running on 1-4 racks using System Center & Windows Server
Setup time needs to be shortened
Patches and reboots result in service disruption
• Fully loaded CPS would live migrate > 16TB for every host OS patch
• Network capacity could have otherwise gone to business uses
• Reboots: Compute host ~2 minutes / Storage host ~5 minutes

We need server configuration
optimized for the cloud

Tuva

What’s Nano Server?

 A new headless, 64-bit only, deployment option for Windows Server
 Deep refactoring focused on
– Cloud Platform infrastructure
– Born-in-the-cloud applications
 Follow the Server Core pattern
Nano Server – The Next Step
Server Core
Server with Local
Admin Tools
Basic Client
Experience
Nano Server

• Zero-footprint model
• Server Roles and Optional Features live outside of Nano Server
• Standalone packages that install like applications
• Key Roles & Features
• Hyper-V, Storage (SoFS), and Clustering
• Core CLR, ASP.NET 5 & PaaS
• Full Windows Server driver support
• Antimalware Built-in
• System Center and OMS agents to follow
Nano Server - Roles & Features

• An installation option, like Server Core
• Not listed in Setup because image must be customized with drivers
– Separate folder on the Windows Server media
• Available since the Windows
Server Technical Preview 2
released at Ignite
Nano Server in Windows Server 2016

DEMO: NANO SERVER

NANO SERVER IN NUMBERS

Servicing Improvements*
0
5
10
15
20
25
Critical Bulletins
Nano Server Server Core Full Server
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
Important Bulletins
0
2
4
6
8
10
12
Number of Reboots
23
8
2
9
23
26
6
11
3
* Analysis based on all patches released in 2014

Security Improvements
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
Ports open
Nano Server Server Core
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
45
50
Services running
0
20
40
60
80
100
120
Drivers loaded
12
31
22
46
73
98

0
50
100
150
200
250
300
Boot IO (MB)
Resource Utilization Improvements
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
Process Count
0
20
40
60
80
100
120
140
160
Kernel memory in use
(MB)
26
21
61
139
150
255

0
50
100
150
200
250
300
350
Setup Time (sec)
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
Disk Footprint (GB)
Deployment Improvements
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
VHD Size (GB)
.41
6.3
40
300 4.84
.4

NANO SERVER PACKAGES

Installing Roles and Features
Nano Server folder has a Packages sub-folder
Dism /Add-Package /PackagePath:.packages<package>

Quick Start
PowerShell Module
3 cmdlets
No more DISM necessary

Examples
# Simple Nano Server (as a virtual machine)
New-NanoServerImage -Edition Datacenter -DeploymentType Guest
-MediaPath E: -BasePath .Base -TargetPath
.NanoServerVMSTP5Nano02TP5Nano02.vhdx -ComputerName
TP5Nano02
# Simple Nano Server (physical, cluster, hyper-v host)
New-NanoServerImage -Edition Datacenter -DeploymentType Host
-BasePath .Base -TargetPath
.NanoServerVMSNanoPhys01NanoPhys01.vhd -ComputerName
NanoPhys01 -OEMDrivers –Compute -Clustering

Role / Feature Filename on ISO
Hyper-V Microsoft-NanoServer-Compute-Package
Failover Clustering Microsoft-NanoServer-FailoverCluster-Package
Ability to boot and run from a RAM Disk Microsoft-NanoServer-BootFromWim-Package
Basic drivers Microsoft-NanoServer-OEM-Drivers-Package
File Server role and other storage components Microsoft-NanoServer-Storage-Package
Windows Defender (including a default signature file) Microsoft-NanoServer-Defender-Package
Reverse forwarders (Included by default)
DNS Server role Microsoft-NanoServer-DNS-Package
Desired State Configuration (DSC) Microsoft-NanoServer-DSC-Package
Internet Information Server (IIS) Microsoft-NanoServer-IIS-Package
Host support for Windows Containers Microsoft-NanoServer-Containers-Package
System Center Virtual Machine Manager agent Microsoft-Windows-Server-SCVMM-Compute-Package
Microsoft-Windows-Server-SCVMM-Package
Network Performance Diagnostics Service (NPDS) Microsoft-NanoServer-NPDS-Package
Data Center Bridging Microsoft-NanoServer-DCB-Package
Deploying on a virtual machine Microsoft-NanoServer-Guest-Package
Deploying on a physical machine Microsoft-NanoServer-Host-Package
Secure Startup Microsoft-NanoServer-SecureStartup-Package
Shielded VM Microsoft-NanoServer-ShieldedVM-Package

Advanced installation (1)
Parameter Explanation
-AdministratorPassword This sets the image’s administrator password. If you do not specify this on the command line, you will be interactively prompted to do.
-BasePath This is the location for the copy of the source media. It will be under a folder (auto-created if not exist) and contains the packages, tools, hard disk image
and WIM file.
-Clustering This allows you to add the clustering role.
-Compute With this, you can add the Compute (Hyper-V) role.
-ComputerName This sets the computer name of the image. Note that the computer name can’t be longer than 15 characters
-Containers This allows you to add the Containers role.
-CopyFiles This parameter specifies additional directory path on the computer where you create the image and that directory and the files in it will be added to the
root of the VHD(X).
-DebugMethod With this parameter, you will enable kernel debugging on the target image with the specified method. The values can be Serial, Net, 1394 or USB
Depending on the value of this parameter, other parameters may become available. See kernel debugging for more information.
-Defender This adds the Windows Defender feature.
-DeploymentType * Guest or host, depending on whether you want to deploy a virtual or physical nano server
-Development Used to test on Nano server which allows unsigned drivers, copy debugger binaries and so on
-DomainBlobPath This lets you Join the image to the domain as specified in the given domain blob. For more information, see the chapter about domain join.
-DomainName This joins the image to the specified domain performing an offline join. For more information, see the chapter about domain join.
-DriversPath If you need additional drivers or specific ones instead of the OEM drivers, you can add them with this parameter. It should point to the path containing
the drivers (.inf and binaries). Note that the drivers need to be signed, otherwise the command will fail.
-EMSBaudRate This is the baud rate to use for EMS. The default is 115200bps.

-EMSPort This is the port to enable EMS on. The default is 1.
-Edition * Standard or Datacenter, the windows edition you want to deploy
-EnableEMS This enables EMS (Emergency Management Services) and BootEMS on the image. See Emergency Management Services for more information.
-EnableRemoteManagementPort This parameter opens port 5985 for inbound TCP connections for Windows Remote Management (WinRM). See Windows Remote
Management for more information.
-InterfaceNameOrIndex If you want to change the IP settings of an adapter, you need to use this parameter in conjunction with the below IP parameters. You can
retrieve these using Get-NetAdapter, netsh or EMC if you already created an image, and in a VM, the first will always be named Ethernet.
-Ipv4Address This sets the given IPv4 static address on the interface specified by InterfaceNameOrIndex.
-IPv4Dns This sets the given IPv4 DNS server (can be multiple DNS servers) on the interface specified by InterfaceNameOrIndex
-Ipv4Gateway This sets the given IPv4 gateway on the interface specified by InterfaceNameOrIndex.
-Ipv4SubnetMask This sets the given IPv4 subnet mask on the interface specified by InterfaceNameOrIndex
-Ipv6Address This sets the given IPv6 static address on the interface specified by InterfaceNameOrIndex.
-Ipv6Dns This sets the given IPv6 DNS server on the interface specified by InterfaceNameOrIndex
-MaxSize * Size in bytes of the dynamic VHD(X) to be created. Default is 4 GB.

-MediaPath * The location of the source media. If a local copy of the source media already exists, and it is specified as the base path, then no copying is
performed. This is the downloaded ISO that you either have mounted or copied to a specific location. This is only necessary the first time.
-LangPackages $
-NeutralPackages $
-OEMDrivers This is used to add the OEM Drivers package. Those drivers are the same set of drivers that exists in Server Core.
-Packages Include the following packages separated by a comma. This is the specific parameter that adds the packages that don’t have a specific
parameter. See the Packages chapter for more information.
-RamdiskBoot You can run Nano Server in an environment with no physical disk by using a RAM disk. To generate media that can boot from a RAM disk, use
the -RamdiskBoot parameter and pass the path to a WIM file as -TargetPath
-ReuseDomainNode When joining a domain, reuse a node with the same name if it exists. For more information, see the chapter about domain join.
-ServicingPackages With this parameter you can add servicing packages (multiple is possible) that you downloaded from the Microsoft Update catalog
-SetupCompleteCommands You can add here custom commands as part of setupcomplete.cmd
-Storage This adds the Storage role
-TargetPath This is the location of the final, modified image. The image format is determined based on the file extension. Possible extension values are
.VHD and .VHDX. VHD will come with MBR and VHDX with GPT disk layout.
-UnattendPath Location to add your own, custom, unattend.xml file

Examples
New-NanoServerImage -DeploymentType Guest -Edition Datacenter -TargetPath
.NanoServerVMsTP5Nano03TP5Nano03.vhdx -BasePath .Base -Clustering -
Compute -ComputerName TP5Nano03 -CopyFiles D:Scripts -DomainName MD.local
-EnableRemoteManagementPort -InterfaceNameOrIndex ethernet -Ipv4Address
192.168.1.203 -Ipv4Dns 192.168.1.220 -Ipv4Gateway 192.168.1.1 -
Ipv4SubnetMask 255.255.255.0 -MaxSize 100GB
New-VM -VHDPath .NanoServerVMsTP5Nano03TP5Nano03.vhdx -Generation 2 -
MemoryStartupBytes 268435456 -Name TP5Nano03 -Path D:VM -SwitchName LAN

Additional information
Domain Join
• Joining the same domain as the image creation computer
• Joining a different domain
• Reusing a domain account
• Online domain join
• Using unattend.xml
For Azure
• Available in the Gallery
• Bring your own disk

Online installation
Install-PackageProvider NanoServerPackage -Force
Import-PackageProvider NanoServerPackage -Force
Find-NanoServerPackage
Find-NanoServerPackage –AllVersions -Name *IIS* -RequiredVersion
10.0.14300.1000 -Culture en-us
# Installation to an offline image
Install-NanoServerPackage -Name Microsoft-NanoServer-IIS-Package -Culture
en-us -RequiredVersion 10.0.14300.1000 –ToVHd D:MyNanoVhd.vhdx
# Download without installation
Save-Package –provider NanoServerPackage -Name Microsoft-NanoServer-IIS-
Package -Path .temp -Culture en-us -MinimumVersion 10.0.14300.1000
# Install directly
Install-NanoServerPackage -Name Microsoft-NanoServer-IIS-Package -Culture
en-us -RequiredVersion 10.0.14300.1000

NANO SERVER MANAGEMENT

 Eliminating the need to ever sit in front of a server
 Remote management/automation via Core PowerShell and
WMI
 Configuration via PowerShell Desired State Configuration
(DSC)
 Integrate into DevOps toolchains
Nano Server - Management

Managing Options
Yes PowerShell, No PowerShell
Nano Server Recovery Console
PowerShell Remoting / Direct
Windows PowerShell CIM
Windows Remote Management
Remote Consoles
Remote Server Management Tools

Nano Server Recovery Console
Formerly called Emergency Management Console
Possibility to edit IP settings
Possibility to edit Route table
Possibility to edit Firewall Rules *
Shutdown / Restart Server

PowerShell Remoting / Direct
Should be mostly used
Remoting requires network
Direct uses VMbus

Remote Consoles
Most MMC Consoles will work
Hyper-V Manager
Cluster Failover Manager
DNS
Server Manager
...

Web-based tools (in Azure)
Replacement for local-only tools
Gateway on-prem necessary

• Web-based
• Includes replacements for local-only tools
– Task Manager
– Registry Editor
– Event Viewer
– Device Manager
– Sconfig
----------------------------
– Control Panel
– File Explorer
– Performance Monitor
– Disk Management
– Users/Groups Manager
• Also manages Server Core and Server with GUI

DEMO NANO SERVER MANAGEMENT

MODERN SERVER APPLICATIONS

• Born-in-the-cloud application support
• Subset of Win32
• CoreCLR, PaaS, and ASP.NET 5
• Available everywhere
• Host OS for physical hardware
• Guest OS in a VM
• Windows Server containers
• Hyper-V containers
Nano Server – Modern Server Application platform

• No MSI support in Nano Server
– Current builds of Nano Server require xcopy or custom PowerShell
script
• Windows Server Installer in the works, which will provide
– Install
– Uninstall
– Inventory
– Online and offline installation support
Installing Agents and Tools on Nano Server

• Windows SDK & Visual Studio 2015 target Nano
Server
– Download tooling from the VS gallery
• Rich design-time experience
– Project template, full IntelliSense, error squiggles, etc.
• Full remote debugging experience
Nano Server - Developer Experience

 Chef
 PHP
 Nginx
 Python 3.5
 Node.js
 GO
 Redis
 MySQL
 OpenSSL
 Java (OpenJDK)
 Ruby (2.1.5)
 SQLite
What runs today with the Reverse Forwarders?

Recap
 Nano Server & Containers better together!
 Big Shift in Technology
 Fundamentals for the next years
 Prepare now!

Q & A
Thomas Maurer
Cloud Architect @ itnetX
Microsoft MVP
www.thomasmaurer.ch Twitter: @ThomasMaurer

Many thanks to our sponsors & partners!
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